Communication terminals, such as hand portable phones or handsets, are able to handle and exchange ever increasing amounts of data. Traditionally, this type of terminals is equipped with a pocket calculator keypad with twelve alphanumeric keys including the figures 0-9 and some extra signs.
These alphanumeric keys include several figures, signs, letters, special signs and so on available by multiple pressing of the individual keys. In general, a key can include up to ten different signs or more. Therefore, inputting of text, for e.g., short messages may require many key strokes compared with the number of letters in the message.
However, integration of the entry of alphanumeric data into a thumb wheel has been described in EP 755 142 A. This thumb wheel is placed in the upper left corner of the phone. When text is entered into the display, a position pointed out by a cursor is highlighted. By rolling the thumb wheel the sign displayed in the currently highlighted field changes, and by pressing the thumb wheel the highlighted sign is selected and the cursor jumps to the next position.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method of entering information into a communication terminal having a display, navigation means for navigating through information candidates, and selection means for selecting one of the candidates, said method comprising displaying in the display a string of entered information, displaying, separately from the entered information string, a second string of possible information candidates, one of these candidates being highlighted by the cursor controlled by the navigation means, and copying the highlighted candidate from the second string to the entered information string upon selection by the selection means. Hereby, the user will be able to overview both the written characters and the characters he may select for entering. This makes it possible to vary the string of candidates, and the information entry method may be used in relation to several different applications, such as normal text entry, calculator entry, music entry, and entry of Chinese signs.
The invention provides a new and improved method of entering data into a communication terminal, allowing the user to increase the data entry rate.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the method is used in a communication terminal, such as a phone having navigation means provided as a depressable roller wheel, said method including moving the cursor by rolling the roller wheel, and selecting an item pointed out by the cursor by depressing the roller wheel. Then the user may concentrate on what is going on in the displayxe2x80x94while he is only using a single key.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal is equipped with at least two entry modes for entering different types of information into different applications in the terminal, and comprising sorting the possible information candidates in the second string in dependence on the current mode of the terminal. When entering a text in Latin letters, there is no need for displaying Chinese letters, music notes, or other irrelevant signs.
Preferably, the terminal sorts the possible information candidates in the second string in dependence on at least one previously selected character. This sorting will preferably be language dependent. In English, e.g., when a word already contains the letters xe2x80x9cphxe2x80x9d, the next candidate will probably be one of the letters xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cyxe2x80x9d. Similar lists may be made for all letters and languages. If a terminal, e.g., includes 20 languages, a corresponding number of lists may be stored within 6-10 Kbytes in total. However, it will only be the list for the language selected by the SIM card or manually by the user that will be used.
When more memory space is available a full electronic dictionary can be loaded into the memory of the terminal. Then the processor will search the dictionary memory to find a word matching the letters already entered, and display the best matching word in a third display part selectable for the user. The displayed suggestion will be adapted dynamically when a letter is entered.
This concept will be very useful for languages having many different signs or characters, such as Chinese, Thai, and Arabic. Here, the dictionary could link the sign and the English pronunciation in Latin letters together. Then the processor will search the pronunciation strings to find the string that fits best with the letters already entered. The corresponding sign will be displayed in the third display part.
The invention furthermore relates to a communication terminal having display means, navigation means for navigating though information candidates, selection means for selecting one of the candidates, and a processor controlling the display means in accordance with the operation of the navigation means and the selection means. The display means comprises a first display part for displaying a string of entered information, and a second display part for displaying a second string of a plurality of possible information candidates, one of these candidates being highlighted by the cursor controlled by the navigation means. The processor copies the highlighted candidate from the second string into the entered information string upon selection by the selection means. The same information concept may thereby be used irrespective of the type of information to be entered.
When the terminal according to the preferred embodiment of the invention is used as a hand portable phone, the display may be a substantially rectangular LCD display, wherein the first display part constitutes the major part of it, and the second display part is provided as a strip along one of the edges of the display. This will give a good appearance when the display is a graphical display.
Preferably, the terminal is provided with navigation means having a roller body, such as a thumb wheel. When the roller body is rolled, the cursor will move, and when the roller body is pressed, the item pointed out by the cursor is selected. This allows for good control of the cursorxe2x80x94especially when the roller body is placed centrally below the display. However, the navigation means may be provided as a navigation key known per se and having a step-up/step-down functionality, and the selection means may be provided as a separate key, e.g., a soft key, for selecting the item currently pointed out by the cursor. This will improve the entry rate when the candidates are sorted in an intelligent way.
An important advantage of the inventive concept is that the same entry concept may be used for different types of entries. When the terminal is equipped with at least two entry modes for entering different types of information into different applications in the terminal, the processor sorts the possible information candidates in the entry string in dependence on the mode of the terminal.
In each mode the processor will handle a basic default string of candidates. According to a preferred embodiment, the processor will, for each information candidate entry, generate a dynamic string of candidates, comprising a group of the most probable characters in the beginning followed by the default string. Then, for longer words, the letter to be entered may be found among the first 4-8 lettersxe2x80x94which will be about half a rotation of the roller body.
The inventive concept will be especially valuable for the handling of complex signs, such as Chinese signs. For this purpose, a third display part will be created in some applications, when necessary. The user may input Latin letters for the pronunciation, and the terminal will display the best fitting Chinese signs in response thereto for selection. This concept may also be used for normal text editing, where the processor then suggests a full word found in a dictionary stored inside the terminal in response to the entered letters of a word.